09TBILISI1140, GEORGIA: CIVIL SOCIETY MEETS WITH A/S GORDON

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 001140
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2019
TAGS: PRELPGOVRSGG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: CIVIL SOCIETY MEETS WITH A/S GORDON
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d)
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Georgian academics, analysts and civil
society leaders discussed domestic politics, the necessity of
developing more robust civil institutions, and relations with
Russia at a June 11 lunch with EUR Assistant Secretary Philip
Gordon. While participants' opinions varied, in general
they coalesced around frustration with the current deadlock
surrounding the ongoing opposition-led protests and the
belief that that the opposition does not know how to back
down from its demand that Saakashvili resign. They said the
current stalemate and domestic instability are significantly
affecting the country's economy and institutions; if the
situation continues, they worried that progress made in the
past few years could be lost. One theme that ran throughout
the conversation was the lack of trust among various elements
of society, and between government and opposition. A/S
Gordon reaffirmed U.S. support for Georgia, stressing that
the U.S. desire for an improved relationship with Russia will
not come at Georgia's expense. End summary.
LACK OF TRUST IN SOCIETY
¶2. (SBU) All participants lamented the public's lack of
faith and trust in Georgia's democratic structures. This,
they believed was due to the lack of development of
government and civil institutions, especially the judiciary.
While significant progress had been made in developing
institutions separate from personalities or parties, the
events of November 2007 almost instantaneously eroded trust.
Several of the experts believed that while the government's
credibility was significantly damaged in November 2007, the
current protests have led to a similar phenomenon between the
public and the non-parliamentary opposition. Therefore, the
public is left neither with faith in their government, nor
with a system of checks and balances. All participants
agreed that the lack of trust among members of the
government, between the government and the opposition, and
between the population and all politicians placed a great
strain on the democratic development of Georgia.
¶3. (C) Gia Nodia, a former Minister of Education and the
Director of the Caucasus Studies School, described the
current protests as part of an ongoing domestic political
crisis. In his opinion, opposition supporters do not think
they can win elections, not because of a lack of popular
support, but because in their view recent elections have not
been free and fair. The fact that many members of the
non-parliamentary opposition were also part of the Rose
Revolution is also contributing to the crisis; many of the
participants believe there is a lack of fresh ideas about how
to enact reform. Those who proclaim to be opposition keep
reverting to the very model that brought in the Saakashvili
regime. Nodia asserted that the opposition knows that
Saakashvili will not resign, but that they hoped the
government would crack down on protests as in November of
2007, creating popular support for their cause and bringing
pressure to bear on Saakashvili. Nodia added that the
opposition is deadlocked. He said most of non-parliamentary
opposition know this, but can not find a face-saving way to
back away from their demand that Saakashvili resign. The
experts gathered supported constitutional changes, changes in
electoral laws, as well as possible early parliamentary
elections depending on structural changes, but not
presidential elections, as a way out of the crisis.
DAMAGE TO INSTITUTIONS
QDAMAGE TO INSTITUTIONS
¶4. (C) All agreed that the domestic political situation is
damaging Georgia's economy and institutions, which were
already weakened by the August 2008 conflict and global
economic crisis. If a compromise is not reached between the
government and opposition, they worried that much of the
progress made since the Rose Revolution could be lost. A/S
Gordon asked the group about the state of media freedom in
Georgia. Participants expressed concern that outlets are
neither free, fair, nor objective in their coverage. This,
several, agreed is not simply a problem of government
interference, but of overall development of the media and the
commercial challenges media outlets face. They acknowledged
that the Georgian media, regardless of political orientation
also covered the activities and statements of the
non-parliamentary opposition. Alexander Rondeli, President
of the Georgia Foundation for International and Strategic
Studies (GFSIS), said that unfortunately independent
television stations such as Kavkasia and Maestro do not
provide unbiased reporting, but instead opposition
propaganda. The group even agreed that being considered
balanced and accurate was not valued by present media
outlets. Participants noted that while challenges remain in
TBILISI 00001140 002 OF 002
television media, print media is free and that most
newspapers tend to be extremely anti-government.
RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA
¶5. (SBU) Participants were eager to learn about U.S. policy
towards Russia, especially regarding its impact on the
U.S.-Georgia relationship. Assistant Secretary Gordon
reaffirmed U.S. support for Georgia, stating that his visit
was intended as a way to show Georgians that a better U.S.
relationship with Russia will not come at Georgia's expense.
He stressed that the U.S. does not accept the Russian concept
of a "sphere of influence," nor does the U.S. accept that
countries in this region are not free to choose their own
allies. He assured the group that President Obama will make
this clear when he meets with President Medvedev, and that
the Secretary will make this clear at the OSCE ministerial in
Corfu. The Assistant Secretary's comments were well received
by the attendees.
¶6. (SBU) Participants in the lunch included:
Gia Nodia, Director, Caucasus Studies School;
Alexander Rondeli, President, Georgia Foundation for
International and Strategic Studies;
Ekaterina Siradze-Delauny, International Society for Fair
Elections and Democracy;
Alexi Alexshishvili, Policy and Management Consulting Group;
Zurab Abashidze, Board Member, Georgia Council of Foreign
Relations.
¶7. (U) A/S Gordon did not have opportunity to clear this
cable before his departure.
TEFFT

The information recorded on this site has been extracted from http://Wikileaks.org (Georgia) database..

We wish to express our gratitude to Julian Assange and his team for making this data available as it is an important public record.

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